Which to use
“erkannten” and “ernannte” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,874
- “erkannten” frequency rank
- #18,226
- “ernannte” frequency rank
- 37100
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | erkannten | ernannte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Genitiv Singular Maskulinum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs erkannt | Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Flexion des Positivs des Adjektivs ernannt |
Where the eye mixes erkannten and ernannte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. erkannten runs 9 letters (VCCVCCCVC) against ernannte's 8 (VCCVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: erkannten vs ernannte
A purely visual mix-up. erkannten ([ɛɐ̯ˈkantn̩]) and ernannte ([ɛɐ̯ˈnantə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37100, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
erkannten is recorded at frequency rank #18,874, classified as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈkantn̩]. ernannte is at rank #18,226, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɛɐ̯ˈnantə].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 37100, this pair ranks #1,598,804 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of erkannten vs ernannte
Shared letters: aenrt. Private to "erkannten": k. Private to "ernannte": -.
"erkannten" · 9 letters · shape VCCVCCCVC · "ernannte" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "erkannten" and "ernannte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "erkannten" vs "ernannte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "erkannten" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ernannte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,598,804 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "erkannten" and "ernannte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ergänzten vs erkannten". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #1,598,804 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.